Negotiators of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North have arrived in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa for talks with the Sudanese government.

SPLM-N has been waging war in the Nuba Mountains and southern Blue Nile regions of Sudan since 2011, demanding a secular state and the overthrow of the ruling National Congress Party. The movement was affiliated to the South Sudanese ruling party SPLM until splitting from the latter upon independence of South Sudan in 2011.

Mubarak Ardol, spokesman of the negotiating team, told Radio Tamazuj the delegation headed by Yasser Arman came in response to an invitation by the mediation, the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP).

Last March, AUHIP chief mediator Thabo Mbeki suspended talks after failing to bridge the positions of the parties on the agenda of the negotiations. Mbeki faulted the SPLM-N for not accepting a draft framework agreement he had proposed.

However, the African Union Peace and Security Council reiterated its support for his mediation and requested the panel to continue efforts to try to broker a peace deal.

According to Ardol, the priority of the SPLM-N delegation is to address the humanitarian situation. He claimed that more than 70,000 civilians have been displaced in Rashad Locality of South Kordofan in recent days.

Sudan’s defense minister has announced the start of a military offensive against the SPLM-N areas in South Kordofan. Reinforcements were sent to the area from Darfur and other areas.

Radio Tamazuj confirmed that some aerial bombardment started last week. Satellite photographs taken by the Satellite Sentinel Project have also shown fresh mechanized forces and artillery have moved into the region.

The Sudanese government delegation has not yet arrived in Addis Ababa for the talks.

File photo: SPLM-N Secretary-General Yasser Arman (Reuters)